Hellenic League

Hellenic League is a modern name for the 481 BC. Chr. Of several free Greek polis for defense against the Persian Empire founded symmachy . A total of 31, apart from Athens , Sparta and Corinth, rather insignificant Greek cities were involved. Important cities and areas such as Argos , Thebes , Thessaly and the Italian Greeks stayed away from the alliance. After the victory in the battles of Salamis (480 BC), Plataiai (479 BC) and Mykale (479 BC), the alliance, which had been formally under the leadership of Sparta, loosened.

Due to the refusal of the Spartans to take over the protection of the Greeks in Asia Minor , it happened in 478/77 BC. BC to the change of hegemony before Byzantium and thus to the establishment of the Athens-led Attic League , which was the beginning of the rivalry between Athens and Sparta, which eventually led to the Peloponnesian War .

literature

• Hans-Joachim Gehrke , Helmuth Schneider (ed.): History of antiquity. A study book . Stuttgart 2006, pp. 146-147. ISBN 3476020746 .
• Karl-Wilhelm Welwei : Classical Athens. Democracy and Power Politics in the 5th and 4th Centuries . Darmstadt 1999, ISBN 3896781170 .